Guns in Britain

Abstract

The last few weeks have thrown up a markedly more complex picture of 'British Gun Crime' than we are accustomed to hearing about. Over the decade and a half since the tragedy of Dunblane, gun crime in the UK had become strongly associated with the inner city, gangs, drugs and marginalised young men. We thought we had the problem pigeon-holed. Then came Derek Bird's Cumbria rampage, through one of the most remote, rural and picturesque areas of the country, and which ended leaving 12 murder victims and Bird's own suicide. And then last week, in another remote, rural northern landscape, armed killer Raoul Moat is pursued, almost 'live on national TV', in a week-long manhunt, ending in a deadly stand-off, the police use of tazers, and a suicidal shotgun blast to his own head. Gun crime can take many forms, that is the first point. In fact there are around 55 different firearm related offences a person can commit even before a weapon is pointed at anyone.